Site Mobile Navigation

U.S. Still Struggling With Infant Mortality

Infant mortality has been declining slightly in the United States. But 28,000 children under the age of 1 still die every year.

The main reason for the high rate is preterm delivery, and there was a 10 percent increase in such births from 2000 to 2006, according to recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (In 2007, according to preliminary data just published by the C.D.C. , that rate declined by 1 percent, mainly among late preterm infants.)

In 2004, the latest year for which worldwide data are available, the United States had a higher rate than 28 countries, including Singapore, Japan, Cuba and Hungary. In 1960, the United States had a higher rate than only 11 countries.

There are large differences by race and ethnicity. Non-Hispanic black, American Indian, Alaska Native and Puerto Rican women have the highest rates of infant mortality, while Asian and Pacific Islanders, Central and South Americans, Mexicans and Cubans have the lowest.

“We think the increase in preterm birth and preterm-related causes of death are major factors inhibiting further declines in infant mortality,” said Marian F. MacDorman, the lead author of the report and a statistician at the C.D.C. “Infant mortality is a major public health problem, and it’s not improving.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D7 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Still Struggling With Infant Mortality. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe